Game board



3 Sheets-Sheet l H. M. BURKE GAME BOARD INVENTOR Hm a: E N-EurkE Filed Jan.

June 26 11/6 ATTORNEY June 26, 1934. H. M. BURKE GAME BOARD Filed Jan. 4, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. M. BURKE June 26, 1934.

GAME BOARD Filed Jan. 4, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENT 0R Horace TLEJLW kE HIS ATTOIIZNEY Patented June 26, 1934 UNITED STATES GAME BOARD Horace M. Burke, Wildwood, N. .l., assignor to Emily 0. V. Burke, Wildwood, N. J.

Application January 4, 1932, Serial No. 584,599

. 6 Claims This invention relates to game boards, and has for an object to provide a board of impr v construction, embodying features wherein a ball U or balls are propelled along the board into em 15 gagemerit with a cushion, and with pockets arranged in improved manner into which the ba is rebounded.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game board including a driveway, with a cushion at the end of the driveway, and a plurality of pockets arranged with their openings directed toward the cushion andarranged substantially radially therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game board having a plurality of pockets separated by bafiies, inclined to the side walls of the board, with outlets from the pockets to conveniently located runways, and means for controlling the outlet of balls from the pockets.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game board having pockets communicating with the side margins of the board, with open ings through the sides for the discharge of the balls, runways to receive the balls from the openings, and closures for the openings operated simultaneously and manually.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game board having a centrally extending section, substantially plane, communicating at one end with a cushion and along which a ball will be projected into engagement with the cushion, and with increasingly inclined side parts ex tending from said central parts to the sides of the board, pockets being arranged along such inclinations.

The invention therefore comprises a game board having at one end an arcuate cushion with baiiies directed toward and arranged approximately radially to the arcuate cushion, such bate fies extending to the sides of the boards form ing pockets therebetween, such pockets communicating with runways along the exterior sides of the board into which balls projected into the pockets are conducted through ducts from the pockets, with slides normally closing the ducts and operated to register with the ducts for the discharge of the balls, the runways receiving the balls communicating with a stora e place at the players end of the board.

The drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention and the views therein are as follows:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the board,

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the board, as indicated by arrow 2 at Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional YlBW, taken on lines 4-4 of Figures 1 and 3,

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view, taken on lines 55 of Figures 1 and 3,

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view, taken on l nes j6 of Figures 1 and 3,

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail view of one of the duct controls, as indicated byline '7--'7 of the drawings as constructed of a solid board, or r the like, having parts planed away to form the necessary tapers which will be hereinafter more fully described, It will be obvious, as the disclosure is completed, that this base member may be constructed of something analogizing sheet material, with the device termed by bending but for the purpose of a more elear understanding'of the relation oi the tapers, {the base member has been shown as constructed of solid material as above noted. Along the sides of the base member 10, side rails 11 and 12 are erected. An end rail 13 extends transversely agross at the players end between the rails 11 and 12, and a structure 14 is provided at the end opposite the players end for the purpose of accommodating the slide bars, which will be hereinafter disclosed.

Associated with the head member 14;, is a gush: ion 15. This cushion 15, as will be noted, is are cua-te, in form as shown, approximately semi-circular. ent indications are that rubber will be the material employed, but the invention is in no way limited to the construction of this cushion from rubber.

Upon opposite sides of the board and arranged substantially radial to the arcuature of the cushion 15, arebailles 1G, .17, 18, 19 and. 20. These baffles 16 to 20 inclusive extend, as will be noted, substantially to the side rails 11 and 12, and form intervening pockets, such pockets being open to- The material will be elastic, and the pres- .ward and practically arranged radially relative to the cushion 15, other pockets 21 being formed above the remote bafile 20.

The baiiles have been noted as extending practically to the side rails 11 and 12, but. they stop short, however, of these rails by the distancerequired by the inter-position of the slide members 22 and 23. These slide members 22 and 23, more clearly shown in enlarged detail atFigures 7 and 8,. are provided with recesses 24. These recesses 24 are properly spaced and positioned to communicate' at times with ducts 25, formed through the sides rails 11 and 12, also to be out of register withsaid ducts in one position of the slides 22 and v 23,. For the purpose of sliding these members 22 and 23, knobs 26 are provided. At one end, the slides 22 and 23 are inserted under the head member 14, and at the end adjacent the player, keepers 26 are provided. It will be noted that the ducts 25 are inclined downwardly from the game board and also inclined toward the players end The inclined lower ends communicate with runways 27 and 28 which extend throughout the major part of the length of the board, and at their lower ends, communicate with the storage trough 29, convenient to the player.

The pockets provided by the several baffles 16 to 20 inclusive, will preferably be numbered, or otherwise designated. Numerals are shown in the pockets at Figure 1, but it is to be understood that these numerals or other designations are purely arbitrary, and will depend upon the rules of the game. Balls will be employed to be projected by the player along the board and against the cushion 15. While the device may be varied materially in this respect, a point 30 is shown at Figure 1 as indicating the point of original position of the ball, and it is contemplated that an instrument analogizing a cue will be employed for projecting the ball, but this again may be varied according to the usage.

To assist in properly projecting the balls in their rebound from the cushion 15, a taper is employed on the base member 10. At the lower or players end, the taper disappears, the surface at 31, as will be noted from Figure 4, being substantially plane. As the distance toward the opposite end of the board increases, the taper likewise increases. At 32, in Figure 5, the taper is shown as quite noticeable, while at 33, shown at Figure 6, it has reached approximately its maximum. The space designated by the dotted lines 34, on the board at Figure 1, will be the space from which the tapers originate. This tapering may best be explained by saying that if the base member 10 be set on a horizontal, the corners opposite the players end will be lower than the corners adjacent the players end. Setting the base member at an inclination, however, as indicated at Figure 3, although there is a decline laterally, the corners opposite the players end will actually be higher than the corners at the players end by reason of such inclination.

The tendency of a ball rebounding from the cushion 15 will be to follow the resultant of such inclinations, and skill will be required, therefore, to properly project the ball from the cushion by rebounding into pockets provided by the bailies containing the score of higher values. For instance, as shown in the drawings, the pocket bounded by the baffles 16 and 17, is designated as 10. This is considered the most difficult pocket to make, and it is, therefore, contemplated that it will be given higher rating in the final score. As noted, it contains the numeral 10, whereas the next pocket, that bounded by baffles 1'7 and 13, contains the numeral 5. As noted above, these score numerals are purely arbitrary, and will be arranged in accordance with the rules of the game played thereon. Arranged as shown, however, and employing a cue for the projecting implement, a ball will be placed at the position 30, and the player by the use of the cue, will drive the ball against the cushion 15. This is purely a game of skill as the tangent at which the ball engages the arc of the cushion, and the force of the impact will determine the rebounding angle of the ball. This will be affected by the inclinations of the board and the inclinations afforded by the bevels or tapers so that the successful player will. aim the impact of the ball against the cushion at such point as to project the rebound into the pocket 10. It is contemplated that the pockets 21 will' be zero. Balls which are projected backwardly into the players space according to the present contemplation of the rules, may be reshot. Of course, the rules may be varied as the players may agree in advance.

Of course, the game board, herein illustrated, may be modified and changed in various ways without departing from the invention herein set forth and hereinafter claimed.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A game board comprising a base member set at an inclination, runways extending along the sides of the game board, a storage trough communicating with the lower ends of the runways, a cushion arranged along the median line adjacent the upper end of the board, said board being provided with oppositely directed inclined surfaces extending from a central section, pockets arranged along said inclined sections directed approximately radially toward the cushion, said pockets having ducts discharging from the pockets into the runways, and sliding closures for the ducts closing the communication therewith and manually movable to put all of said pockets simultaneously into communication with the ducts.

2. A game board comprising a base member having a ridge along its longitudinal median tract positioned at an inclination to the horizontal, and parts sloping from opposite sides of said ridge and so contoured that the remote edges of the sloping parts approach the horizontal more nearly than the ridge.

3. A game board comprising a base member having a ridge along its longitudinal median tract positioned at an inclination to the horizontal, parts sloping from opposite sides of said ridge a and so contoured that the remote edges of the sloping parts approach the horizontal more nearly than the ridge, and pockets ranged along said sloping parts.

4. A game board comprising a base member having a ridge along its longitudinal median tract positioned at an inclination to the horizontal, parts sloping from opposite sides of said ridge and so contoured that the remote edges of the sloping parts approach the horizontal more nearly than the ridge, and pockets ranged along said sloping parts, said pockets being formed by upstanding baflles.

5. A game board comprising a base member having a ridge along its longitudinal median tract positioned at an inclination to the horizontal, parts sloping from opposite sides of said ridge and so contoured that the remote edges of the sloping parts approach the horizontal more nearly than the ridge, and pockets ranged along said sloping parts, said pockets being formed by upstanding baiiles inclined to said opposite sides.

6. A game board comprising a base member having a ridge along its longitudinal median tract positioned at an inclination to the horizontal, parts sloping from opposite sides of said ridge HORACE M. BURKE. 

